National Institute of Circus Arts to Present THINGS NOT OF THIS EARTH in June

This June, Melbourne audiences will experience the phenomenal skills and imagination of Australia's next generation of circus stars when the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) presents Things NOT of this EARTH, an exuberant production of elite-level circus. Set against the backdrop of a sci-fi inspired "B movie", the 2016 graduates playfully probe questions of identity and belonging, as they bend genre and blur multiple artforms, incorporating music, drag, glitch and beyond.

The fourteen circus talents have spent thirty hours a week for the last three years honing their circus and performance skills with the best trainers from across the world. They present spectacular solo acts such as aerial straps and rope, Chinese pole, handstands, hula hoop, juggling, rolla bolla, roue Cyr, tightwire and trapeze. Performers include Charice Rust (26), an outstanding aerialist and strong woman who learnt a love of strength and movement working on her grandmother's sheep farm in southwest Victoria; Melbourne's Maxine Gigliotti (20), whose visually sumptuous work combines tight wire and 2D animation; Canadian-born and Costa Rica-raised aerial rope specialist Ryan Darwin (24); Jordan Revell (22) an outstanding contortionist and former jazz and ballet dancer from Sydney with a passion for dance, drag and performance; Hugo Bladel (22), who after playing soccer at the highest level for Tasmania has transferred his skills to create a unique act combing soccer, circus and comedy and Tara Silcock (20) whose performance will see her submerged in a giant cocktail glass, juggling giant cocktail umbrellas with her feet.

Things NOT of this EARTH is directed by renowned circus and theatre artist Hayden Spencer with associate direction from award-winning circus artist and NICA graduate Emma Serjeant. Hayden Spencer has performed as the lead clown in Cirque du Soleil: Dralion, and for companies including Melbourne Theatre Company and La Boîte Theatre. An accomplished writer and director, he has worked with QPAC, NICA and Queensland Theatre Company. After graduating from the National Institute of Circus Arts in 2006, Emma Serjeant was selected as an ensemble member of C!RCA and in late 2011 co-founded Casus Circus.

NICA is Australia's Centre of Excellence for training in contemporary circus arts. It is one of eight national arts training institutes and offers Australia's only Bachelor of Circus Arts. Graduates of NICA have gone on to pursue exciting careers both locally and internationally and have contributed to the development of Melbourne's vibrant circus arts industry.

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